Assault rifle inventor Mikhail Kalashnikov dies at 94

BBC ^

[JRandomFreeper]

Say what you like about the man, he designed an icon.

/johnny

[NormsRevenge]

If he had invented a lawn mower that started first pull everytime,, the world would have a lot less gardeners.

[bramps]

I know next to nothing about guns and would like to know what set this gun apart from others. Thank you.

[henkster]

Patterned after the German Sturmgewehr 44, but made simple, rugged and reliable.

Kalashnikov served his country well, however evil that country may have been.

[donmeaker]

He was always overrated. His verson won a design trial, after Hugo Schmeisser, a ‘member of his design team’ changed it extensively from what Kalashnikov designed. The one thing Schmeisser didn’t touch was the receiver, which had problems with cracking after less than 10,000 rounds. The Kalashnikov stamped receiver was quickly replaced with a machined receiver designed by someone else. Later they went back to a stamped receiver, but one designed by someone else.

Kalashnikov was the politically correct face for the team. For that he deserves full credit.

[Scrambler Bob]

Lawn mower with a sling.

All the worlds jungle trouble spots would be mowed flat.

Ethanol wouldn’t hurt it.

[Veggie Todd]

I know next to nothing about guns and would like to know what set this gun apart from others. Thank you.

Reliability.

[kronos77]

To put it simple:
If you want to win a war, you need to have either AK-47 either nukes. And when those nukes go off, you need AK-47 to stay alive.

[JRandomFreeper]

set this gun apart from others

Ubiquity and fault tolerance.

The weapon is everywhere in the world and can fire under conditions that many rifles would not operate under.

It is not terribly accurate, but lots of people have died from them.

/johnny

[Carry_Okie]

The combination of rugged simplicity, high functionality, and inexpensive manufacture is rare in any machine. Such are works of genius.

[caver]

It’s a wonder he made it through Stalin’s purges.

[JoeProBono]

[43north]

Your statement is interesting. Was Schmeisser captured by the Russkies at the end of the war and brought back to Mother Russia?

[GeronL]

Are black flags flying in Russia?

[kronos77]

He was useful. Stalin was smart dictator.”Budget cuts” wes not in his vocabulary.

[Jeff Chandler]

Reliability, durability, and low production cost.

[M Kehoe]

I will say, rest in peace. Although, my enemies use his product to great effect.

Plus, we were taught how to field strip and fire an AK. In case you ran out of ammo, or your M16 was inoperable.

Yes, I said M16, so I'm that old...so sue me.

5.56mm

[caver]

I’ll agree he was useful.

[JoeProBono]